Islamabad, March 29 – Prices of medicines have increased in the open market and the Bohor Bazaar pharmaceutical hub in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, with prices rising from 50% to as high as 500%, local media reported on Sunday.
Prices of essential medicines, including those for diabetes, hypertension, antibiotics, gastrointestinal conditions, and cough, have increased. The price of an insulin injection device in the open market has increased from Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 2,200 to PKR 4,720, according to The Express Tribune, Pakistan's leading daily.
The cost of vitamin B supplements has increased from PKR 500 to PKR 600. Similarly, the price of a packet of indigestion and acidity medication has increased from PKR 530 to PKR 620. The price of a pack of nutritional supplements and vitamin tablets has increased from PKR 480 to PKR 510.
The price of thyroid medicine has increased from PKR 85 to PKR 290. Meanwhile, the price of a commonly used typhoid treatment has increased from PKR 805 to PKR 930. The prices of several other life-saving medicines have also increased.
Critics have termed the increase "unbearable," stressing that insulin devices ranging from PKR 2,000 to PKR 5,000 make essential treatment inaccessible to low-income patients, and have urged the government to intervene.
Meanwhile, the average price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Pakistan has surged to PKR 3,900-5,135 per 11.67 kg cylinder from PKR 3,150-3,968 amid the conflict in West Asia.
Citing data from the Sensitive Price Index (SPI) published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) for the week ending March 26, Dawn, Pakistan's another leading daily, reported significant price hikes across various cities in Punjab province.
Reports suggest that as gas prices rise, fares for LPG-run private transport have increased, placing additional pressure on low- and middle-income commuters dependent on LPG-driven rickshaws, buses, and minibuses.
Amid the global rise in LPG prices triggered by the conflict, gas supplies from Iran, which previously ranged between 10,000 and 12,000 tonnes a day, have declined due to the Eid and Nowroz holidays.
According to M Ali Haider, Convenor of the Standing Committee on LPG of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, three vessels carrying about 20,000 tonnes of imported LPG arrived in Pakistan during March.
He said the country needs around 2 million tonnes of LPG annually, of which 1.2 million tonnes are imported, and 800,000 tonnes are produced by local refineries.